Personal Health Information for sale

CVS Caremark’s iScribe e-prescribing program obtains absolute rights via their service agreement to all inputted data, allowing them to sell data to drug manufacturers, clearinghouses, and data analysis companies. “CVS Caremark: An Alarming Prescription”, Change to Win — November 2008

CVS Caremark was paid by Merck to identify patients with a certain diagnosis or taking a certain medication and then sent targeted letters to their physicians promoting an alternate, more expensive medication. The letters singled out specific patients and listed their identifiable data such as name, patient ID, date of birth, and current medication regimen. “CVS Caremark: An Alarming Prescription”, Change to Win — November 2008

Many EHR vendor contracts stipulate ownership, exclusive access, and a right to sell data. A nationally prominent physician informaticist and member of AHIC and NCVHS, reported he had personally seen the contract language. Vendors of both large and small, inpatient and outpatient systems have contracts stipulating they “have ownership to the data. There are contracts that say they will have real-time access to the database, that they will have exclusive access to the data, that they can resell the data.” Modern Healthcare, “IT guru says some e-vendor contracts violate privacy” by Joseph Conn July 19, 2007)

Albertsons, the Grocery store chain, collects and sells its customers’ confidential medical information (primarily prescriptions) including addresses, phone numbers and drug regimen. The information is sold to pharmaceutical companies that use the information for mailings and phone calls encouraging use of certain medications and marketing alternative brand name medications. Motions to Dismiss and Strike in Weisz v. Albertsons Inc have been denied and it is proceeding through discovery. Albertson’s received $3.00 $4.50 per letter sent. Weisz v. Albertsons Inc, (San Diego Superior Court Case No. GIC 830069) and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/PharmQA.htm